


Once Upon a Time in Oz

by InkAndScribbles



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, I'm calling the baby Robyn in an attempt to at least be slightly original, Oz - Freeform, WickedBeauty, belle and Zelena being domestic in oz, belle is sad about gideon, just fluff tbh, mentions of past Ruby/Belle, ruby and mulan are fun aunts, studying magic and looking after robyn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27146944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkAndScribbles/pseuds/InkAndScribbles
Summary: Zelena is tired of being an outcast and Belle is tired of Rumple's constant lying. Together, they leave Storybrooke and find their way to Oz.Originally posted on FFN under the same name
Relationships: Belle/Wicked Witch of the West | Zelena, Mulan/Red Riding Hood | Ruby
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> slowly transferring all my work over from FFN so sorry to anyone who thought this was gonna be a new story

He told her he was doing what was best for their family. What was _best._ This certainly wasn’t it. The Black Fairy certainly wasn’t the best thing for their family, she had kidnapped their _son_. And that was unforgiveable. She was leaving him, for good this time. She wasn’t going back to him, not after this.

Belle’s thoughts continued to whirl around her head as she made her way aimlessly through the outskirts of Storybrooke. She didn’t know where she was going, she just needed to get away from Rumple. She was certain he could find her wherever she went, but this brought her a little time as he would check all the usual places she went first.

“Belle?”

Belle jumped at the sound of someone calling her name. Looking around, she spotted Zelena a little off the path waving at her. She stood there for a few moments, not sure what to do. Clearly, she had stood there for a few moments too long because before she knew it, Zelena was stood directly in front of her, one arm securely holding Robyn.

“Belle? Are you alright?”

Startled from her thoughts again, Belle looked up at Zelena,

“Yes, of course.”

Zelena frowned, touching Belle’s arm lightly,

“You’re crying though…”

Belle raised a hand to her face in shock, she hadn’t even noticed,

“Oh, I suppose I am. Well, it’s…it’s nothing, I’ll be fine.”

Zelena tilted her head, observing the smaller woman in front of her. She looked devastated,

“Come with me. You can stay at my house for a few hours instead of wandering around in the cold.”

Belle just nodded, silently following Zelena for the short distance to her house.

* * *

Once inside the house, Belle shivered, only just realising how cold it had been outside. She followed Zelena into the kitchen, where she saw the woman trying to make a bottle for Robyn whilst holding the child in question. Moving forward, Belle gestured to the bottle,

“Would you…would you like some help with that?”

Zelena turned her head to look at Belle, scrutinising her carefully,

“If you could hold Robyn that would be great!”

Belle stuttered as Zelena handed her Robyn. She had meant to help make up the bottle but Zelena seemed quite content to allow her to hold Robyn for a few minutes. Looking down at the baby in her arms, Belle couldn’t help the overwhelming sadness that swept through her. She would never get to hold her son like this again. He was all grown up and still not entirely on their side. She wasn’t even sure if there was more than one side anymore, what with Rumple forming an alliance with the Black Fairy. She sniffed quietly as she realised she was crying again, although she wasn’t sure if she’d stopped. Hopefully Zelena wouldn’t say anything or she would probably have a full-scale breakdown. She looked up from the baby in her arms when Zelena turned around, bottle in hand. Zelena studied her for a few moments before holding out the bottle,

“Do you want to feed her? I can show you how if you don’t know.”

Belle felt the shock flit over her face as she registered Zelena’s words,

“You would trust me enough to do that?”

Zelena just nodded, pressing the bottle into Belle’s free hand. Belle sat down at the kitchen table, switching Robyn into the right position to be fed. She had done this many times before she had sacrificed herself for her kingdom; there were several children in the castle and not all of them had had mothers. They spent a few minutes in silence before Zelena broke it, asking the inevitable,

“What happened? I understand if you don’t want to tell me but I can actually be a pretty good listener, and it’s not like I have anyone to tell anyway.”

Belle contemplated this for a few moments. It wouldn’t be a secret for long; once the final battle began everyone would know Rumple had been lying,

“I’m leaving Rumple, for good this time. He finally went too far.”

Belle stopped, unsure if she wanted to go on. Thankfully, Zelena just watched her in silence, although Belle could tell her curiosity was eating her alive,

“He lied. He told me he was going to do what was best for our family. He told me he’d killed her and that we could all finally be together. Except he lied to me, again! And I know I’ve said it before but I’m leaving him. I’ll probably leave Storybrooke so he can’t weasel his way back into my life. It was his fault that I had to send Gideon away, and now he’s siding with the woman who kidnapped our son. I can’t be with him after that, I just can’t.”

Belle was suddenly very grateful that Zelena had given her Robyn; it was helping her keep calm. Tears poured unhindered down her face as she spoke, falling onto the soft fabric of her scarf. Zelena stood, moving to take the chair next to Belle. Hesitantly, Zelena reached out, her arm circling around Belle’s shoulders in an awkward sort of half hug.

“You would really leave Storybrooke? Where would you go?”

Belle shrugged slightly, she hadn’t thought out her plan all that well if she was honest with herself. Seeing that Robyn was finished, she automatically shifted her so that she could burp her. Thinking for another few moments, Belle finally came up with a plan,

“I guess I’ll just have to raid Rumple’s shop when he’s out one day and find something that can transport me to a different realm; it will be much harder for him to get to me if he has to travel through every realm. After that, I don’t know, really. I’ve wanted to travel my whole life so I imagine I’ll find something that involves realm-hopping or sea travel; I’ll see lots that way.”

Zelena nodded in agreement, that was a good plan. Absentmindedly, she took Robyn as she thought over Belle’s plan. Her daughter began to fuss so she quickly grabbed a pacifier from the side, hoping it would help calm her down. Seeing that it had worked and her daughter was well on her way to falling asleep, Zelena turned back to Belle,

“Have you ever been to Oz?”

Belle shook her head, she had always wanted to go but had never had the chance.

“Well…why don’t you come with me? I’m leaving for Oz in a few days and if you wanted, you could come with me. I understand if you’d rather start afresh somewhere else but…but it might be nice to have a familiar face with you?”

Belle looked over at Zelena in surprise,

“You would take me with you? Why are you even going though? I thought you were happy here with Regina and Henry?”

Zelena sighed heavily. This would be a long conversation,

“Before I talk about this, I’m going to put Robyn to bed.”

Belle nodded as Zelena left the room and presumably went upstairs. Rather than sit around getting lost in her own thoughts, Belle decided to be constructive and set about cleaning the milk bottle and putting it away. Seeing a pile of dirty dishes on the side, Belle wondered if Zelena knew how to work the dishwasher that she knew Regina had installed. Having only been without magic for a few days, Belle assumed no. Deciding to leave it for now, Belle reclaimed her seat at the kitchen table, pulling her phone out. To her relief, she had not received any calls from Rumple. But then again, he didn’t actually know that she had found out about his lie. She had been walking through Main Street and had caught sight of the Black Fairy exiting Rumple’s shop. She hadn’t even bothered to go and check if anything had been touched, she just wandered through Storybrooke until she ended up here.

Belle was pulled from her thoughts as Zelena sat down again. The shorter woman noticed that Zelena had changed clothes, from her dress and blazer ensemble to sweatpants and an old t-shirt, she had even put her hair up into a ponytail. Belle thought it suited the other woman well. She stopped her musing over Zelena’s outfit choice as the woman in question began to speak,

“To start with, yes. I would take you with me, to Oz at least. Whether you want to stay with me once we get there is entirely up to you. And I am happy. Well, I was until…”

Belle didn’t push her for an answer, just as Zelena hadn’t pushed her for one, but she did place her hand on the other woman’s arm, squeezing gently, just to let her know she was there for her.

“I noticed something had been off with Regina for a while, so I was trying to figure it out. When I did, I was slightly shocked but not really surprised. I called her out on it and at first, she just shut me down completely; she wouldn’t even acknowledge that I’d spoken other than to say that she was handling it. I never did anything but ask her to talk about it, I wanted to help! It was hurting her and I didn’t want that for Regina but I guess one day she just got fed up of it, of me, and screamed at me to leave her alone to deal with it. I tried to explain that I wanted to help but she wouldn’t hear it…”

Zelena broke off as she noticed her voice starting to shake. She had really thought she was making progress with Regina,

“She told me to go back to Oz, where I belong. So I’m going, and I won’t be back for a while, if ever…I’m leaving in two days, that should give me enough time to get organised.”

Belle slid her hand down to meet Zelena’s, clutching it in a tight grip. Zelena’s eyes flickered to meet hers, a small smile of thanks on her face.

“How will we get there without magic?”

Zelena’s smile brightened as she registered that Belle had said ‘we’, this would all be so much easy with a friend,

“Well, once we get to Oz it won’t be long before I have my magic back, I have something there that should restore it. As for getting there, all we need is some of the fairy crystals in the mine and a wand and we’ll be good to go.”

“I can get a wand from Rumple’s shop, he has dozens of spares floating around, is there anything specific it needs to be?”

Zelena looked thoughtful for a moment,

“Well…if you could find one that has some kind of component from Oz that would be better. It’s not necessary but it will make the journey easier than one without. Other than that, anything is fine.”

Belle nodded. She could do that. She would have to go back to the shop at some point before they left to get the few belongings she had there, the rest remained in her apartment above the library. Looking outside, Belle saw that it was dark,

“I guess I should head back now, Rumple might be wondering where I am soon, I haven’t told him I’m leaving him yet.”

Zelena frowned, clearly displeased,

“You can’t go wandering off to Storybrooke at this time of night. And Rumple will just have to wait until tomorrow because you are staying here tonight. I’ve got some spare pyjamas, they’ll be a bit long but it shouldn’t be too bad, and you can stay in the spare room.”

Belle just nodded, still slightly unsure. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Zelena, but they had only been getting on well for the past few weeks and she didn’t want to ruin that,

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

Zelena just waved her off,

“You may as well. And once we get to Oz you’ll probably have to stay with me for a few days until you find your feet anyway. Come on!”

With that, Zelena was suddenly leading Belle up the stairs. They stopped just as suddenly outside a nondescript door,

“This will be your room for tonight, or until we leave if you don’t want to stay with Rumple. The bathroom is through that door,” Zelena pointed to the door at the end of the hall, “and that one is mine, and Robyn’s.” Zelena pointed to the door diagonally opposite her own. It had a little green heart on the door.

“I’ll just get you something to wear.”

Zelena crossed the hall and entered her own bedroom, still slightly shocked at the pace everything had just happened at. Belle was only dimly aware of the empty feeling of her hand, which up until that point, had been tightly gripped in Zelena’s. Belle opened what was her bedroom door for the night and looked around the room. It was a standard looking room; a double bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a comfy looking armchair in the corner. Turning back to the hallway, Belle saw Zelena closing her bedroom door quietly, a pile of clothes in her hand,

“Here you go. And there’s toothbrushes in the bathroom cabinet. I think that’s everything…oh! I’m sorry if Robyn wakes you up in the night, she tends to cry rather loudly when she’s hungry.”

Belle shook her head,

“I don’t mind. I probably won’t get a lot of sleep anyway. Too much to think about.”

Belle looked down as she felt her eyes watering again. She had already cried too much today. Her head jerked up again as she felt hands on her shoulders,

“You’ll be okay, Belle. I promise.”

Belle nodded, she didn’t trust herself to speak.

“Goodnight, Belle. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, Zelena turned away, heading to her bedroom,

“Night, Zelena. And thank you…”

Zelena just smiled over her shoulder before closing her door, leaving Belle to do the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later and they were ready to go. Belle had ended up staying with Zelena until they left, she didn’t want to have to deal with Rumple and it was clear that Gideon was siding with him over her. Whilst leaving her son was tearing her heart out, she just couldn’t deal with hearing him call the Black Fairy mother, it hurt too much. After scouring the shop for a wand, and indeed finding one made of wood from an Ozian tree, Belle had started gathering up her things so she would be ready when Rumple inevitably found her, at least she had hidden the wand before he did. She recalled her very brief conversation with him,

_“Rumple.”_

_He had returned to his shop while Belle was still packing. He seemed confused,_

_“Going somewhere?”_

_Belle answered, not pausing in what she was doing,_

_“Away. I’m leaving you. For good this time. You lied to me again.”_

_Rumple just nodded his head in acceptance,_

_“Okay, Belle, okay.”_

_A swirl of red smoke and he was gone. Belle wasn’t naïve enough to think that nothing would come of this. She quickly finished grabbing everything she would need before heading towards the outskirts of town where Zelena would be waiting in her newly acquired car._

She had told Zelena about what happened and she believed that Rumple merely thought she was moving to somewhere else in Storybrooke, rather than a different realm entirely, and so wasn’t especially worried. Their plans continued, and after a 2am mission into the mines to get some fairy crystals, they were ready to go.

Zelena had explained to Belle how the crystals would help.

_“They act as a kind of temporary magic. It’ll give me enough magic to summon and direct the cyclone to take us where we want to go but after that we’ll be without magic until I can restore mine. Luckily, I can take us directly to the castle so we won’t have to wait long.”_

_Belle found herself incredibly interested in the crystals after that and inquired as to whether she might be able to keep some for herself to experiment with._

_“You want to experiment with the crystals? Do you even know how?”_

_Belle just smirked,_

_“One learns a lot as the Dark One’s maid, and as his wife,”_

_Zelena was suitably impressed._

They were now stood in the field behind the farmhouse. Belle was holding a sleeping Robyn as the sun crested over the trees of the Storybrooke Forest. They had decided on an early start so nobody would see the giant green cyclone that was taking them to Oz. Zelena was busy crushing up the fairy crystals (it took a while longer than with innate magic) so Belle double checked that they had everything they needed. They had decided against bringing clothes because they took up too much space and they could easily find some when they got there. The main things they had thought to bring were most of Robyn’s things that could not be found in Oz as well as a few other necessities. Seeing that Zelena was done, Belle made her way over to stand next to the taller woman. Zelena then did something that Belle didn’t think she’d ever see, she pulled out her own heart.

Belle observed it curiously. It was almost completely red, but there was a tiny pulse of green and black at the very centre. She watched carefully as Zelena poured the crystal dust over her heart, and humming in satisfaction as it pulsed with magic. Quickly shoving it back into her chest with a wince, Zelena shivered as she felt the magic course through her. Fortunately, it would stay in her system until she actively used it. Turning towards the town, Belle looked for any distant signs of life but found none. It was still too early at barely 6am. She continued gazing at it silently until Zelena spoke,

“Will you miss it?”

Belle contemplated the question, in a sense it should be the easiest answer in the world,

“I don’t know. It was my home for over 30 years, although 28 of those were awful, but it just doesn’t feel like _home_ should anymore. Maybe I will miss it, but not yet. Will you?”

Zelena nodded quietly,

“I think so. It’s one of the first places where I’ve been accepted for who I am, regardless of the wickedness. But Regina always ran so hot and cold with how she treated me, and nobody else particularly liked me. But I’ll still miss it.”

Abruptly, Zelena turned around, facing the open expanse of field rather than the quaint town she had come to love somewhat. Drawing the wand with one hand she wrapped her other arm securely around Belle’s waist, drawing the smaller woman closer. Belle kept both her arms tucked around Robyn but leaned into Zelena’s side, taking comfort in the tight embrace. Zelena waved the wand in a pattern that Belle didn’t quite catch and seconds later she saw the swirling green smoke descending towards the three of them. Closing her eyes tightly, Belle burrowed her head further into Zelena’s neck, not wanting to see what cyclone travel was like. With a start, she felt her feet leave the ground but at the same time they appeared to not be moving at all. Nonetheless, she still didn’t open her eyes and her grip on Robyn remained secure. Belle didn’t even register that they had landed until Zelena was whispering to her,

“You can open your eyes now, we’re here.”

Belle opened her eyes a crack before they flew open in absolute wonder. The building around her was astonishing, nothing like Rumple’s dreary castle and it wasn’t as grand as her father’s old castle. She liked it at once.

“This is where you live?”

Zelena nodded, enjoying the absolute look of wonder on the brunette’s face,

“Here, give Robyn to me. You can look around if you want. Don’t worry about getting lost, I’ll be able to find you.”

Belle smiled widely and immediately set off walking around the hall they were in, looking at anything and everything, no matter how mundane it appeared. Zelena cooed gently to Robyn, trying to wake her up (amazingly, she had slept through the cyclone) so she could show her daughter her new home. Zelena knew that she would have a lot of work to do, both in and out of the castle. There were parts of the castle that still needed repairing as well as getting her old rooms set up. And rooms for Belle, of course. Then there was the matter of the people of Oz. When she had left, they had still been terrified of the ‘Wicked Witch’, but that was no longer her. For starters, she wasn’t green anymore which was something the people had always associated with ‘wicked’ and secondly, she just didn’t _feel_ like the Wicked Witch anymore. She hadn’t since she had returned from the Underworld if she was completely honest with herself. She had what she always wanted, her mother’s approval. It didn’t matter if Regina had something she didn’t anymore. Especially after the Hades/Robin fiasco. Speaking of that, she needed to get to her vault so she could return her magic,

“Belle! Would you like to come to my vault? I need to get my magic back, plus you can see if there’s anything about fairy crystals there to help with your experiments.”

Zelena smiled as Belle almost seemed to skip over in her excitement. She had forgotten that the woman was also a history enthusiast. She would take Belle on a proper tour later. As Zelena led her guest down a series of hallways, she kept up a commentary about the history of the castle and some of the artefacts they passed on the way. She liked that Belle was fascinated by everything she saw, even though she had probably seen a lot of it during her stay at Rumple’s castle.

“And here we are, my vault. No one but me has ever been in here before, you know. Consider yourself special.”

“I do, don’t worry about that.”

With a deep breath, Zelena open the door, wincing as the hinges screamed in protest. She hadn’t used the door for years, she just poofed in and out. Resolving to fix the door at a later date, Zelena made her way over to the chest that lay in the corner. Opening it, she turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Belle already absorbed in reading the book titles on her shelves,

“Hey, you remember that necklace I had that helped with my magic?”

Belle glanced over to show she was listening but quickly turned back to the shelves, making Zelena chuckle,

“Well, that wasn’t actually the real thing. It was a partially working replica, some of my finest work if I’m honest.”

Zelena could see that she now had Belle’s full attention,

“Essentially, it did store my magic, but only a fraction of what the original did. That’s what I’m looking for. Before I went to Storybrooke, I stored around half of my magical essence in the necklace. Putting the necklace on will release the magic back into my body where it’ll soon get back up to full capacity again.”

Belle walked closer, wanting to get a look at the necklace. Seeing Zelena was struggling with holding Robyn and searching the chest so Belle quickly took the baby from her arms and began talking to her as she blinked blearily. With a triumphant cry, Zelena rose to her feet clutching a long rectangular box in her hands. Setting it on the table, Belle watched with intrigue as Zelena flipped the box lid open, running long and delicate fingers around the rim of the box. Ever so slowly, Zelena drew the necklace out of it’s hiding place. Belle thought it was even more exquisite than the one everybody had assumed to be real, although they were virtually identical.

Zelena quickly fastened the necklace around her neck, sighing in satisfaction as she immediately felt the magic begin to trickle into her system,

“How long does it take?”

“It should finish transferring by the end of tomorrow. And then after that it’s only a matter of time before it goes back up to full capacity.”

Belle nodded, turning back to the books. Running her finger along the spines, Belle’s face lit up as she found a useful book. Pulling it off the shelf, she flipped through a few pages before showing it to Zelena,

“Am I allowed to take this with me to read? Of course, I’d do any experiments in here but I much prefer reading comfortably.”

Zelena nodded, taking Robyn back,

“That’s fine. As long as you put it back when you’re done and don’t take it out of the castle, you can take it out the vault. As for your experiments, I think I’d prefer it if I observed you for the first few, just to make sure you know what you’re doing. And I know you learned some things from Rumple but it would make me a lot happier if you would allow me to watch.”

Belle nodded excitedly,

“I would like that a lot. It could be quite dangerous and I’d feel safer with you there.”

Belle looked away suddenly, blushing, as if embarrassed by her confession. When she didn’t hear a response, she turned and found Zelena studying her curiously,

“You…you feel safe around me? Why?”

Belle just shrugged, she didn’t really know,

“I don’t know. I think it’s because you don’t treat me the same as everyone else does. To most of them I’m just a bookworm or they feel sorry for me because of Rumple. But you just see me as Belle, and I like that.”

Zelena blinked a few times, looking at Belle strangely.

“Nobody has ever felt safe around me before. No one has even _liked_ me before, except Hades. And maybe Regina at some point.”

Belle smiled brightly at Zelena,

“Well, I like you. And hopefully maybe you like me too?”

Zelena huffed and rolled her eyes, although the effect was ruined by the small smile on her face,

“Okay, you got me. But in my defence, you’re far too likable for your own good.”

Belle grinned at her, causing Zelena to blush lightly. She didn’t do emotions and feelings; she was going to have to get used to how open Belle was. Most people remained guarded around her, but not her new companion. If she was honest with herself, it was refreshing for Zelena to not have to analyse every single thing Belle did to look for an ulterior motive. Of course, she still occasionally caught herself doing it; it was a hard habit to break. She was broken from her musings as Belle walked over to look at a softly glowing stone in the corner of the room,

“What does this stone do? Do the colours mean anything?”

Zelena looked over at the stone in confusion,

“Colours? As in, more than one?”

Belle nodded,

“Yes, there’s two. Although one does keep fluctuating.”

Zelena walked over to stand next to Belle, her eyes trained on the stone.

The stone had been something of her own invention. She had created a clear stone of almost six feet (it looked like a crystal but was nowhere near as precious as one) that glowed whenever there was someone with magic, whether they actively used it or not, in the castle. It had taken her years to perfect, as there were very few people with magic in Oz so she couldn’t be sure if it was working, but she had been pleasantly surprised when Rumpelstiltskin had shown up in her vault one day and the stone had immediately added a second colour to it’s glow. It had taken her a while to work out, but she eventually realised that the colour of the glow related to the person’s magic.

Looking at the stone, she saw that her own magic was represented as a bright, emerald green colour as it always had been (Rumple’s was a dark red colour) but it was the other colour that confused her. There was a soft grass green colour, although it appeared to change from green to light blue and back again the more she observed it. That was rather interesting.

“What does it do?”

Zelena had forgotten that Belle was still there; she was too wrapped up in figuring this out. There were only two possible reasons for there being two colours on the stone.

“It glows when there are people with magic in the castle. That there are two colours is highly unusual as magic wielders are quite rare in Oz. Normally, only my own colour is there…the emerald green is mine. So, unless you have magic, the other colour is Robyn's."

Belle’s head whipped round to look at her so fast that Zelena was almost scared she’d hurt herself,

“I didn’t realise babies could be born with magic?”

Zelena's lips twitched upwards in a smirk,

“They aren't, usually. I was, although I know Regina and my mother weren't. There's a small chance Emma might have been but growing up in a world without magic would've made it impossible to tell. I suspect Robyn was due to the magical interference with my pregnancy.”

Belle looked like she was trying to figure something out,

“Why is it two different colours then?

Zelena started to speak but paused. She didn’t know for certain but she could make an educated guess.

"I suspect her true magic is the green colour, but because of Emma's interference some of her magic is left over. It will likely vanish or be absorbed in time."

Belle nodded, that made sense. She looked at the baby snuggled in Zelena's arms, smiling when she saw the girl's pale green eyes looking around the room. A pang of sadness hit her as she thought of Gideon; how she would never get to hold him like that. How she had missed all of his firsts, his first steps, his first words, his first day of school. She had missed everything. Overwhelmed with the sudden urge to cry Belle squeezed her eyes shut, her hands clutching almost painfully at the fabric of her dress.

"Hey, you okay?"

Belle's eyes snapped open at the soft tone, a few tears falling from her eyes. Zelena was looking at her, the concern in her eyes so prominent that Belle just wanted to start crying all over again.

"Yes. No. I don’t...I don't know. It’s so hard, I hate that I missed out on Gideon's entire childhood! I missed him even though he was right in front of me. And I know that I'm the one that gave him up but I shouldn’t have had to! That, that woman; he calls her mother...I couldn’t stand it."

Tears fell unbidden down Belle's face as she stood there feeling utterly helpless staring at the other woman. Zelena held her free arm out in Belle's direction, making a beckoning gesture.

"Come here, love."

Belle shuffled forward, swiping her hand across her eyes as she went. When she got closer, Zelena firmly tugged her until she had her arm wrapped around the brunette's shoulders. Comforting people wasn’t Zelena's forte but she was willing to put aside her own insecurities to help Belle.

"Don’t...I'm not going to tell you everything will be okay, because it won't. Not for a long time anyway. But I'll be here to help you through it, for as long as you need me."

Zelena kissed the top of Belle's head, hugging her as much as she could with only one arm.

A few moments later, Belle pulled back and wiped away the rest of her tears.

"Thank you, I think I needed that."

Zelena smiled at her, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"You’re welcome. Now, shall we go see the rest of the castle?"


	3. Chapter 3

Belle, Zelena and Robyn had been in Oz for a few weeks before anything big happened. Over the time they had spent together they had been trading small stories about their lives. Belle remembered one such instance that had occurred just a few days after they got to Oz.

_“Zelena, do you know if there are any secret passages in this castle?”_

_Zelena stopped walking, looking at Belle strangely,_

_“Why would there be secret passages?”_

_It was Belle’s turn to look confused,_

_“For escapes? Usually, castles have a series of secret tunnels and passages in case it gets attacked and the occupants need to leave discreetly. Rumple’s castle certainly had them, as did my own.”_

_Zelena stopped short again, almost causing Belle to walk into her,_

_“Your castle?”_

_Belle nodded, not at all bothered by the fact that Zelena didn’t know,_

_“Yes. I used to be a princess; I suppose I still am if you look at it technically. Our kingdom was under attack during the Ogre Wars. My father’s only option was to marry me off to the heir of the neighbouring kingdom as we needed their armies. I hated Gaston, he was awful. So I came up with another option, I told my father we could ask for help from a powerful sorcerer I had read about…”_

_“Rumpelstiltskin.”_

_Zelena breathed the name out in disgust; she hadn’t known the story of how Belle came to work for the Dark One. She also hadn’t known that Belle was a princess,_

_“Well, your majesty, I am unaware if there are any passages in this castle.”_

_Belle scoffed,_

_“Don’t call me that, I haven’t been ‘your majesty’ or anything like that in years. I’m just Belle French now.”_

_Zelena nodded,_

_“Anyway, I don’t know if there’s passages in this castle. I didn’t grow up here and by the time I claimed it I didn’t need passages to escape.”_

_Belle seemed thoughtful for a moment,_

_“Well, I could help you find some, if there are any, if you’re not opposed to that. It’s a kind of tradition in castle households that children are introduced to the passageways at an early age as a lot of them are too small for adults. It might be nice for Robyn to experience that.”_

_Zelena hadn’t thought of that. When she took over the castle, she hadn’t thought to look for secret tunnels as she certainly didn’t need them. Nevertheless, it would be good for Robyn to have these types of childhood experiences, something she never got. They walked along in silence until Belle spoke again,_

_“Where did you grow up? Was it close by?”_

_Zelena stiffened in her walk. She detested talking about her childhood. However, she would do so as she knew it would please Belle,_

_“I grew up in a little village about two days’ ride from here. It was very small, maybe 300 people lived there; children weren’t common in the village, perhaps about 70 during the whole time I was there. We, my adoptive parents and myself, lived in a small hut on the outskirts of the village. My father was a woodcutter so we had to live near the forest, and my mother sewed for a living. It was her that kept us afloat, my father spent all his money on alcohol. I left as soon as I could after my mother died. What about you? What was it like growing up in a castle?”_

_Belle looked thoughtful for a moment,_

_“Well, at the time it was wonderful, before the Ogre Wars reached us. I got to go to lots of different kingdoms and I had plenty of other children to play with. It was quite tiresome at times, I had to be ‘ladylike’ at all times and the clothes were horrible. Looking back, I realise just how stifling it was which I suppose is why I was always so anxious to go exploring and travelling.”_

_Zelena nodded. She could understand how hindsight had changed the way Belle thought about her childhood._

Another one that had occurred was when Belle had inquired about Ozian cuisine; she hadn't tried any before but had heard it was very good

_Belle was staring dubiously at the pots in front of her,_

_“I’m not sure I can do this. I’ve never had to cook before, it could turn out terribly.”_

_Zelena chucked,_

_“Don’t worry, it’ll be okay. And if you make a mistake I’ll correct it.”_

_Belle nodded, although she still seemed unsure,_

_“When did you learn to cook?”_

_Zelena smiled, apparently this was a happy memory,_

_“Well, my mother started teaching me from a young age, she said it was always useful to have the skill, in case you ever needed it. Of course, after she died it was down to me to keep my father and I fed. He said it was a woman’s job to cook so he never bothered to learn. Eventually, I began to branch out from directly following recipes and made my own adjustments. I’ve always found it to be very relaxing, it’s also good practise for making potions.”_

_Belle nodded thoughtfully. It had never occurred to her to learn how to cook. Rumple had refused to let her cook, preferring to use magic, and her father deemed it unseemly for a princess to be cooking. Belle was tempted to ask more about Zelena’s mother, but she didn’t want the witch to shut herself off; they had been having a great day so far and she didn’t want to ruin it._

Now the two of them, and Robyn, were down in the vault. Belle had read all the information on the crystals she could find, which wasn’t much, and decided to experiment a little. Zelena had accompanied her and was both overseeing her and sorting through all the items in her vault. Although nobody had been there since she'd left she still wanted to take inventory. Zelena had magically constructed a safe area for Robyn just in case something went wrong with the crystals and the baby was now, quite contently, staring up at a projection of swirls of colour that danced across the ceiling, a small sound escaping her every now and then.

"So where did all this stuff come from? Did you collect it all?"

Zelena looked over to wear Belle was gesturing to the various objects around the room.

"Some of them are mine, but the majority are from when the wizard used to collect them in exchange for favours. I haven't looked at most of those as I had no use for them. They might be worth exploring though."

Belle nodded, going back to the crystals in front of her. They worked in silence for a few hours; Belle experimenting with the crystals in different ways to try and figure out the extent of their power whilst Zelena continued to make lists and organise her vault. Zelena glanced around to see how much left she had to do when her eyes landed on the crystal. A third colour was glowing.

"Belle."

Belle looked up at Zelena's controlled tone.

"What is it?"

"I need you to stay here with Robyn. There's another magic user in or near the castle."

Belle's eyes darted to the crystal that was now pulsing a bright red as well as green.

"Rumple?"

Zelena shook her head.

"No, it's too bright, his is darker."

Belle stared at the crystal. The colour looked familiar...

"Wait! I think I know who it is. That colour, it's the same as Ruby's cloak. She did say she was coming to Oz at some point. Come on!"

Belle left the vault quickly, abandoning her work.

"Hold on! We don’t know who she's brought with her. She could have a whole army and we wouldn’t know. Wait for me."

Belle slowed to a stop. That made sense. She waited for Zelena and Robyn before continuing down the hall and up the stairs to the Entrance Hall. She skidded to a stop as she took in the sight before her. Ruby was panting, slumped against the door, her eyes focussed on a figure lying face down on the floor. Belle couldn't tell who it was; their hair was covering their face.

"Ruby!"

The wolf's eyes snapped to Belle.

"Belle! Wait, Belle? What are you doing here?"

Belle gestured to where Zelena was stood just behind her.

"I came here with Zelena a few weeks ago. What happened to you? And who's that?"

Ruby sighed, the adrenaline wearing off.

"We were being chased by some kind of lion thing. It caught Mulan on the back with it's claws. We didn’t realise anyone was here, it was the closest place to take cover."

Belle nodded, moving closer to Mulan and the now spreading pool of blood around her. She glanced over her, seeing where the lion's claws had ripped through her arm with ease, leaving deep wounds across her back.

"Zelena? Can you heal her please? They're too deep for me to be able to do anything."

Zelena walked over, glancing worriedly at Belle.

"Belle, I...it's been a while since I've done any major healing magic, what if I can’t do it?"

Belle smiled softly at her, taking Robyn from her arms.

"It's okay. I believe you can do it."

Zelena caught Belle's eyes and saw she was telling the truth. She believed in her. Zelena didn’t understand why, but that she did was enough. Nodding once, Zelena knelt down next to Mulan. She placed her hands over the warrior's back. Concentrating, she felt her magic channel itself through her hands and into Mulan. She watched, slightly satisfied, as the wounds began closing over. They would scar, but that was a small price to pay for a life. Zelena looked up at Belle, a small smile on her face.

"I did it."

Belle nodded, a wide grin on her face.

"You did! I'm proud of you."

Zelena blushed at the unexpected praise. Nobody had said they were proud of her since her mother. Unnoticed, Ruby was glancing between the two of them. She was confused as to how this friendship had come about, but she could see it was clearly on the verge of becoming something more. As a werewolf, she had a sixth sense about these things. Mulan groaned quietly, drawing Zelena’s attention back to her.

“She’s lost a lot of blood. We’ll have to keep an eye on her until she’s recovered. Ruby you are welcome to stay as well, if you want.”

Ruby nodded, bracing herself against the door as she stood. She was still completely confused, the last time she had been in Storybrooke, Zelena had been trying to wipe out the Charmings and Belle had been hopelessly in love with Gold. Hopefully she would get some answers soon. She staggered after the others, still pretty unsteady on her feet. Zelena was using magic to levitate Mulan along the hallway whilst Belle walked slightly behind her with the baby. Shuffling slightly quicker, Ruby fell into step beside Belle.

“So...what exactly is going on? It seems I've missed a lot.”

Belle laughed slightly,

“That’s an understatement if ever I've heard one. It’s a very long story, and right now I think you need to rest. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, don’t worry.”

Ruby nodded, she was truly exhausted. They had been running from the beast for quite a while and despite her strength as a werewolf, half carrying an injured Mulan for the last stretch to the castle had not been easy.

“Rest, yeah. Sleep sounds pretty good right now. And in an actual bed.”

Belle giggled,

“Thought you didn’t mind sleeping outside on the ground?”

Ruby shook her head.

“I don’t. But after sleeping in a bed for 28 years...well.”

Belle nodded again. She thought back to the days before the original curse. She had done her fair share of sleeping outdoors and while it wasn’t as pleasant as a bed it also wasn’t bad. She looked ahead of her where Zelena had stopped outside one of the guestrooms.

“I’ll put her in here since it’s fairly close to our own rooms. Ruby you can have the one next to it. Ours are right down the hall.”

Zelena moved Mulan into the room and placed her on the bed before returning to Belle and Ruby.

“I’ll place a spell that lets me know when you’re awake so one of us can come and bring you to the kitchen. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anything pressing. There’ll be pyjamas and things in the room for you. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ruby nodded, slightly overwhelmed by how nice Zelena apparently was now.

“Goodnight, Ruby.”

Ruby smiled at the bookworm

“Night, Belle.”

She disappeared into her room as Zelena and Belle walked down the hall to the nursery.

Zelena slumped down into an armchair as Belle placed a now sleeping Robyn in her cot.

“That was certainly something. I haven’t done that much magic in while.”

Belle nodded, leaning against the back of the armchair.

“Are you tired? Can I get you anything?”

Zelena shook her head, huffing slightly,

“I’ll be alright. It’s been a long time since I've used magic to heal someone like that. The last time I tried it...I tried to save my mother. I hadn’t ever tried to heal anyone, let alone someone that sick before. It didn’t work. She died right in front of me. I rarely used healing magic after that; I was too scared that it wouldn’t work.”

Belle’s heart broke for the redhead. She couldn’t imagine what that must’ve felt like. Belle’s own mother had died trying to save her but she didn’t remember it all too well.

“Zelena, it wasn’t your fault, you know.”

Zelena scoffed, her fingers digging into the arms of the chair.

“Of course it was! I was too weak, too wicked, to save her, my own mother!”

To her embarrassment, Zelena felt herself start to cry and was immediately grateful that Belle couldn’t see her face. Apparently, Belle seemed to know anyway as gentle fingers began to weave themselves through Zelena’s curls, softly playing with them.

“You were only a little girl though. And sometimes, people are just too sick to recover. It happens. It doesn’t make you weak or wicked that you couldn’t save her. Not at all.”

Tears were pouring down Zelena’s face now but she didn’t care.

“But, if I'd just been stronger...I could still have saved her. She could be alive.”

Belle felt herself tearing up at these words. Continuing to play with the other woman’s hair, Belle slipped round and sat on the arm of the chair. Zelena turned to look at her and Belle could see how much the death of her mother had affected the other woman. The broken look in Zelena’s eyes was almost too much for Belle.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could tell you it hurts less but it doesn’t. But it wasn’t your fault. You did everything you could which, awful as it is, isn’t enough sometimes. Your mum was too sick for you to save her with magic, but that’s not on you. There’s no one to blame there.”

Zelena nodded although it was half-hearted. Belle swiftly wrapped her in a hug, she couldn’t stand to see her friend so hurt like this. Zelena rested her head against Belle’s shoulder. She’d had an emotional night and just wanted to go to sleep. She stood up before pulling Belle into a tight hug and a whispered

“Thank you.”

Zelena kissed Belle on the cheek before strolling out of the room.

Belle stood there blushing as she gazed out the door after the redhead, her skin tingling where Zelena’s lips had been.


End file.
